Day 22

Happy Halloween! The shortest move from one campground to another of the trip, in fact, probably all of my trips. While the Sunset Isle is a nice park, Shellmound is more my style. Lots of room between sites, nothing going on, uncrowded (as of 1:00 there is one other camper in the 40 sites). Beautiful view out my front window, and shade, keeping the trailer cool in the 80°F temperatures.

After setting up I walked down to the boat launch & met a Jane & Phillip, a couple from from Geneseo, NY, about 200 miles from Oswego. Phillip taught Geology at SUNY Geneseo, the college my daughter attended for her undergraduate degree. After talking with them I headed for the Shell Mound, a 28' high pile of shells built up over 6000 years of first people discarding their shells, bones, etc. It is hard to believe that a hill that size is made of discarded shells, but looking at places where the tree roots are undercut you can see them. Amazing!

I wandered around taking photos, then went for a drive on a 9 mile gravel "Lower Suwannee Nature Drive". A nice drive, but I expected some water views.

The View From My Site

Site 26, Shellmound Campground

Shell Mound

Shell Mound

Shell Mound

A Grasshopper

The Sound

The Sound & an Egret

Away He Goes!

Willets?

Willets?

Away They Go!

Back at the campground I talked again with Phillip, and discovered that not only were we from the same general area, taught within the SUNY system, and did lots of traveling, but he is also a Viet Nam vet, serving in the south at the same time I was in I Corps in the north. Small world! Took some more bird photos. The larger one is IDed by someone who knows a lot more about them than me as a Willet. The rest look a lot like the larger one so maybe they all are. In any case I love the second to last image where they line up with each other.

Dinner will be a pork chop, snap peas & mashed potatoes. After that is is time to head for the shower (and I do mean shower - there is only one). I'm covered with DEET - the "No See Ums" are out in force. Don't know if it is because I'm under the trees, or it it the entire campground, but they are ferocious!